Attn. Missouri Gun Owners: Please Report to the Principal’s Office

Adding another chapter to the book of “How to Vilify American Gun Owners”, a new bill on the table of the Missouri State Senate would require parents to notify their child’s school if they own a firearm.

Not reporting the acquisition of a new gun to your child’s school would become a criminal offense.

State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal says that the bill she introduced will help to end school violence. “It encourages parents to make sure they store their guns safely in their home, it also gives the school districts the opportunity to help encourage gun safety in the community and in the household.”

Chappelle-Nadal says that she “believes in the 2nd amendment” but hopes this will bring awareness to the need to “lock up guns.”

This registration would be available to the police, of course, to “help them solve crimes.”

Much like the publication of a map of legal gun owners in Westchester County, NY, it’s just another bullseye painted on the homes of gun owners.

SB 124 – This act creates the offense of failing to stop illegal firearm possession. A person commits the offense if he or she is the parent or guardian of a child under the age of 18, he or she knows the child possesses a firearm in violation of the law, and he or she fails to stop the possession or report it to law enforcement.

The offense is a Class A misdemeanor unless death or injury results from the firearm possession in which case it is a Class D felony.

This act also creates the offense of negligent storage of a firearm. A parent or guardian of a child under the age of 18 commits the offense by recklessly storing or leaving a firearm in a manner that is likely to result in the child accessing the firearm if the child obtains access to the firearm and unlawfully carries it to school, kills or injures another person with it, or commits a crime with it.

A firearm that is in a secure location or locked is not considered to be recklessly stored or left in a manner likely to result in the child accessing the firearm.

The offense is a Class A misdemeanor unless the child kills or injures another person in which case it is a Class D felony.

The parent or guardian of a child injured or killed by a firearm may only be prosecuted for negligent storage of a firearm if he or she was grossly negligent.

This act requires a parent or guardian to notify a school district, or the governing body of a private or charter school, that he or she owns a firearm within 30 days of enrolling the child in school or becoming the owner of a firearm.

The written notification only needs to include the names of the parent and any child attending the school and the fact that the parent owns a firearm.

A person only needs to send one written notification if he or she has multiple children attending the school or becomes the owner of additional firearms. Any time a new child is enrolled in a school the parent or guardian must send an updated notification with the new child’s name.

Failure to notify the school under this act is an infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $100. If a person is found guilty of negligent storage of a firearm and has failed to notify the school of firearm ownership, the person must be fined $1,000 in addition to any other penalties authorized by law.